Upcoming Speakers Series 2023-2024

 

All meetings are at St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, 537 Highway 105 (across from the Freshmart).

Meeting time is 7:30-9 pm (unless indicated differently).

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Friday, Sept 22 ad Sat, Sept 23

Workshop: Flower Arrangement

Speaker: Louise Sliger of Les Jardins Sheffield

 

Louise will run two 2 hour workshops, where we will learn the basics of floral design (colors, shapes and harmony) as well as common tools. Participants will apply the concepts by creating their own floral arrangement with flowers harvested on the farm.

 

Louise started growing her cut flower farm (Les Jardins Sheffield in Kingsmere) in August 2021 during covid. At that time, she had a little bit of extra time to grow flowers on a bigger scale. Louise studied agriculture in university and worked at the MAPAQ for several years as an animal science specialist. Now she is happy to have her own horticulture project with her partner Dave.

 

Louise thrives in doing all kinds of arts such as watercolor, stained glass, and more recently, natural dying and eco-printing. Most of her inspiration comes from the floral world. As such, she regularly takes courses to master different techniques. During the colder months, she studies Flower Arrangement by taking private courses with floral designers that she follows on Instagram. Louise makes flower arrangements for weddings, celebrations of life, corporate orders.

 

Monday, Oct 23, 2023

Topic: Ferns for your Garden

Speaker: Elizabeth (Lis) Allison

 

After working in high-tech for a number of years, Lis enrolled in a Fine Arts Degree program at the University of Calgary. She became inspired by pottery and eventually moved to the Carp area, where she is surrounded by native plant and fern gardens. She owns Pine-Ridge Studio, where you can obtain her fern-inspired pottery.

 

Lis became aware of Ferns when she discovered one growing, seemingly, out of a rock, at her new place in West Rural Ottawa. Since then she has discovered that the more you learn about ferns, the more interesting they are. She has many of the ferns indigenous to the Ottawa Valley in her garden. Her current garden project is a Fern Trail where they can be seen growing naturally.

 

Monday, Nov 27, 2023

Topic: Herbal Teas from your Garden – Health in a Cup

Speaker: Jill Burns of Roish Botanicals

 

From spring tonics to calming fractious children and making the heart merry, herbal blends have been supporting health for centuries. Learn the essence of blending herbal teas, the basis of spring tonics and some simple perennials that every garden should have for household health.

Jill was born in Scotland, but found her way to beautiful Chelsea QC, where she continues to adjust to the Canadian growing seasons. Jill has a background in health care as a nurse, dietitian and herbalist, she owns her own tea company, Roish Botanicals, and is a regular vendor at the Chelsea Farmers’ Market.

 

Monday, January 22, 2024

Topic: Wildscaping

Speaker: Lee Ann Smith

 

Join Master Gardener Lee Ann Smith for a talk that introduces this “new” approach to garden design, explains how this type of garden is implemented and offers some real-life examples of wildscapes, large and small.

“Wildscaping” is gaining more and more traction around the world, as home gardeners and landscaping professionals shift their priorities to a more naturalistic approach. This means making gardens that are based on a deeper understanding of local conditions and support local wildlife, plus use native plants that are most suited to the local environment.

 

Monday, Feb 26, 2024

Topic: Plant Propagation

Speaker: Robert Stuart

 

Propagating your own plants is one of the joys of gardening. Rob will explain how to propagate ferns from spores, the steps involved in growing plants from seeds, how to take and use stem and semi-ripe cuttings, the basics of layering and division to increase the number of your favorite plants.

 

Since 2003, Rob has focused on alpine gardening and is currently a Co-President of the Ottawa Valley Rock Garden & Horticultural Society. He loves seed exchanges and has tried to grow most of his plants from seed including trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. He has been in the Master Gardener program since 2016 and enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences and in learning from others.

 

Monday, March 25, 2024

Topic: Improving Your Soil Health

Speaker: Lynne Evenson

 

Lynne has spent her career working in agricultural research at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. Much of what she has learned about improving soil health for agriculture, can be used in your own back yard. You will learn about the different soil types, the important soil properties, what lives in the soil and the different methods you can use to help improve your soil health.

 

Monday, April 22, 2024

Topic: Plant Pests and Diseases

Speaker: Mary Sherman Reid of Green Thumb Garden Centre in Nepean

 

Mary, who is a certified Landscape Professional and Master Gardener, will talk about the different types of pests and diseases in your gardens, how to control them or the best way to live with them. If you have a problem in your garden that you would like to learn more about, please let us know and we will forward the name to Mary, so that she can talk about it in the meeting.

 

Monday, May 13, 2024

AGM

 

Saturday, June 1, 2024

Plant Sale

All plants are sold at extremely reasonable prices as the plants are donated from members gardens.

 

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